


Selfish Kind of Love

by YourLocalPriestess



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Angst, F/F, big ol fight, mid-me3 final battle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-09
Updated: 2017-08-09
Packaged: 2018-12-13 07:40:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11755167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YourLocalPriestess/pseuds/YourLocalPriestess
Summary: Jack left Miranda at the start of the Reaper War. Now, they've been tasked with working together during the final battle on earth. Will the jagged pieces of their broken relationship get in the way of their mission, or will they each be able to swallow their pride and work together?





	Selfish Kind of Love

**Author's Note:**

> This post serves as a dual fill; for Day 9 of Fanfiction Month and the MEFFW Drabble Challenge.
> 
> Prompts were: And Argument and Forgiveness.

“I don’t want to hear shit from you, Jack,” Miranda shouted over the cacophony as she threw another warp over her shoulder while staying in cover. The brute she was aiming for screeched in pain, slowing down enough for her to lean out and fire.

To her left, Jack stood with a few of her students, taking fire on that same brute. After what felt like a thousand shot, the brute fell, and Jack rounded on her. “Shove it, princess. We don’t have time for this petty bullshit.”

Jack’s mouth was still moving, but the sound was cut off as Reaper fire ripped through the air, deafening them all for a moment as the red beam landed miles ahead and toppled a building.

Miranda pursed her lips and concentrated her anger on a cannibal in the distance. After blasting it, she turned back to Jack. “This isn’t petty. This is honesty. I don’t have to _speak_ with you to _fight_. Let’s just get through this and you’ll never have to see me again.”

The students glanced at each other awkwardly in the corner of Miranda’s vision, but she paid them no mind. Jack was seething in front of her, her whole body sheathed in rippling blue, but it didn’t matter. Shepard had given them an order. A mission. Miranda would follow orders, to hell with her own feelings. They only got in the way.

Miranda moved forward, firing at Reaper abominations as they entered her vision. It was only seconds before she heard Jack and her students fall into step behind her.

“Who says I never want to see you again?” Jack asked her, closer than she expected. If Miranda only reached out, she could touch her.

“Fuck you,” she spat, sneering as she used a biotic field to shove the woman back a few steps. She used the rest of the energy to aim a singularity at two marauders ahead. As the two began floating, two more came out of cover and began to fire. “Get down!” she shouted, looking at the students. They instantly ducked into cover.

_They’re too young for this. What if it was Ori here? Would I just let her go headlong into battle?_

Miranda didn’t have time to process that line of thought. She joined fire with the students while Jack concentrated on biotic attacks until all four monsters went down. They kept moving forward, the three students separating herself and Jack.

“You’re honestly fine with never seeing each other again?” Jack shouted as she shot a cannibal in the eye.

Miranda kept her eyes forward, on the three husks, pursing her lips as she focused her energy enough to blast them backward thirty feet into a wall. “It doesn’t matter!”

The gunfire died out in their section, though Reaper fire still tore through the air periodically. In the corner of her vision, she saw Jack stalk toward her. The students ducked their heads and muttered amongst themselves as they replaced their heat sinks. Miranda kept her eyes firmly on the ground.

Jack’s hand on her bicep yanked her out of her own head, forcing her to face the woman. She was glaring, flickering blue across her skin as their biotic field reacted to each other.

“You don’t get to decide that,” she growled.

Miranda twisted her arm out of her grip. “You _left_ me. I’ll decide whatever I like.”

“So _fucking_ stupid,” Jack muttered as she rolled her eyes and wiped a hand over her face. She looked at her again. “I left to protect the goddamn kids, Miri. Cerberus was after you. I couldn’t risk their lives.”

Despite the roaring sound that encompassed them at all sides, Miranda’s ears fell deaf for a moment, and filled with a low buzzing sound, like she’d been standing too close to an explosion.

“W–what?”

Jack stepped even closer. There was only a foot between them. “I left because Cerberus was after you, and you weren’t being careful enough. Because of me. Because of us.”

“You–” A million thoughts bounced through Miranda’s head; months of memories of heartbreak and betrayal and loneliness. “You lied to me.”

“I did.”

“Why?” she shouted.

“You had to believe me. Cerberus had to believe it too. And it was the right call.”

“It wasn’t,” Miranda choked out, her voice fraying at the edges.  She got into her face, her voice rising with every word. “You bitch. You could’ve _talked_ to me. We could’ve made it _work_.”

Jack let out an exasperated groan. “Coulda, shoulda, woulda!” she screamed, flecks of spit hitting Miranda in the face. “It doesn’t matter! This is _it_ , princess. Tonight. Right now. And I’m tired of lying.”

Then Jack’s mouth was on hers, hot and heavy and familiar. The anger drained out of Miranda as Jack’s lips pushed and pulled in ways she’d missed more than she could say. Jack pulled her closer and twisted her fingers in her hair, giving it a slight tug. Miranda gasped, a ghost of a moan, and Jack took the opportunity to slip her tongue into her mouth. _Gods_ , the taste of her. Miranda gripped her back and swore to herself she’d never let go again, Reapers be damned.

One of the students cleared their throats, causing them to break apart.

“Sorry, Jack. This is great and all, but, can it wait?” Greer asked, confusion written all over his face.

“I guess it’ll have to,” she groused.

As if on cue, a beam of Reaper fire blasted close to their position. Not close enough to hit, but close enough to say, _time to fucking move_.

Jack disentangled herself of all but Miranda’s hand. She pulled that hand to her lips and looked right into Miranda’s eyes, still only a few inches apart.

“I love you,” she whispered, so only she heard it.

A soft breath escaped Miranda; something between a gasp and a sigh. She leaned in and stole a chaste kiss. “You better fucking survive this, then.”

“You too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Ugh, I love writing them so goddamn much. They are everything to me.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! You are kind and lovely and awesome ^_^ Any comments/kudos/what-have-yous are appreciated <3


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